Beyond the Screen
by Roze-of-Nilfgaard
Summary: Because of an electrical current, a certain character lives through the laptop screen of a young literature teacher. He commands her to find a way to extract him from the prison that is the screen wallpaper, and come to life in the real world. (Edited)


**[Hello dear readers. Thank you for choosing this fic to read. I must say this is my first ever fic that I had the courage to post. This story went into some editing. A big thank you goes to AngelWolf for taking the time to review my story. It is for kicks and fun.]**

Soft muttering can be heard in a dimly lit bedroom where a lump under the covers shifts slightly on the single bed. The sun shined softly through the curtains indicating the slow rise of the hot sun as it slowly warms the walls of the room. The ringing of an alarm muffled by the pillows wakes the sleeping figure with a groan. A red haired young lady reaches to turn it off, and rise up to sit on her bed. She reached groggily for her phone to check the notifications she had received during her slumber. Many were idle chatting between her work colleagues. Others were from her own mother asking her to call for a nice chat because she misses her daughter. Riza sighed, knowing exactly how that 'chat' will eventually take course.

"Another work day," she said with slight annoyance in her voice. Her eyes shifts sleepily to the open laptop on her desk left open since yesterday's preparation of school worksheets, "I guess you illuminated my room yesterday," she spoke to her laptop, specifically to the picture she had as a wallpaper. Giving a shy smile, she got off her bed and stumbled over to turn it off.

The young lady got ready for her job North of the city where she lived. She slipped on her pencil skirt, topping it with a brand name white shirt with a suitable lifting bra underneath. She deftly applied some makeup, accenting her green eyes with winged eyeliner and mascara. Outside in the well-organized living room, the redhead packed the papers she carefully piled yesterday on the 'working' table. She also packed a light breakfast, then put on her shoes to head out to her tedious job. The drive there took her thirty-five minutes, but since the pay is good, who's complaining?

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"Ms. Riza, do we need to highlight all the text?" a young girl sat front in a class of twenty-two girls as she copied what her teacher had written on the board.

"Yes, Julia. The question will most likely come in the exam as what you see on the board. I would want you to write from your understanding of the text, not from mindless memorization," Riza told her students. She walked between the girls, watching carefully every student's notebook.

"Yes, miss." they all replied. Who said school was easy? Luckily, all students pass with high grades under Ms. Riza's teaching. However, she still found those who complained to their parents and nagged her beyond end. After a hard working day, it finally came to an end. All students packed their copybooks and study sheets, and stood up to leave the classroom after the bell had rung. Riza wiped the board and gathered her own sheets and books after all the students had left. She turned off the lights and closed the door behind her. Back at the teachers' lounge, Riza smiled at the passing teachers who were on their way out. A friend of hers always stayed behind to chat until the streets were clear of the traffic jams.

"Finally, it's Friday!" Riza said enthusiastically, "My mother texted me this morning that she wanted to chat. I can already tell how this will go. Do you have any plans yourself?"

"hmm, not really," Riza's friend replied. They already knew a lot about each other, "I mainly just want to sleep and get my head together. I found myself yelling at a student today for doing something so silly in class. On other days, I would have let it slide, maybe even laughed with her," she shook her head.

"Oh, well. We are close to the end of the school year. Get it together until then," both girls packed their stuff and headed out of the lounge. They made their way to the front gate of the school where each one climbed into her car and drove in a separate direction back home.

The weekend was nothing special for Riza. Lonely working nights like always. On Friday evening, Riza set her laptop down and worked on her papers. She stared blankly at the papers in front of her that so necessarily needed grading. For what seemed like the sixth time, she sighed then nudged the red pen across the table, sending it to tap the keyboard of her laptop, pressing a few buttons as it tumbled on top, "Devil, take me from this work!" she let out a muffled cry, her face covered with her hands. As relaxing as this part of the year was, it came with a huge load for the teachers to grade the students' exams and sort them in files with the certificates.

Riza glanced at the laptop screen before averting her eyes shyly. She never understood why her face heated to a specific wallpaper of a character with pushed back silver-white hair, grey eyes, a stern piercing look staring back, and a devilish smirk that taunts you if you looked long enough. The character wore a black leather vest, topped with a dark blue coat giving him a dangerous look. The background showed him sitting in the van of the game, with a jukebox next to him. His head rested on his hand with his elbow on the table. This new game showed her favorite characters in their most badass look.

"You just get more handsome every day, don't you, Vergil?" Riza spoke to herself and chuckled as she got up to make herself a nice cup of tea to get her mind back to work. Riza recalled her childhood times when the game was first released. During her rough childhood, and through all her parents' issues, she found herself alone most of the time. She would lock herself in her room and put on the game to play one mission after the other. After time, she found comfort in seeing how these characters are what remained in her life. She saw herself silly at times. That she will grow out of it eventually. But when the house was empty, Riza saw no one but the half-demon twins watching over her. Her mind making up for the loneliness she felt. She found joy in an image that didn't talk back or demand anything.

There were long nights that Riza often spoke to it to fill the silence of the room around her. She discussed certain points in literature and how questions should be formed to get the best answers out of students. The image did not answer back, of course, but she noticed how productive she was knowing that the character showing on her screen was a book lover in the video game's lore, "If you were here, you'd being doing this work with me," she laughed to herself addressing Vergil. The lore only told her so much, yet so much is a mystery. Who was Vergil as a person? What did he like and didn't like (aside from humans and his brother, Dante)? Would he enjoy the company of a literature lover?

The young teacher felt silly. She grabbed her cup of tea and headed back to her table to continue her work. Not long after, her work was finally done, "AH! At last!" Riza exclaimed loudly. She put her arm out in triumph that soon turned into a stretching. She glanced at the time on her phone, reading 1:15 am, _/Thank God it is a weekend. A quick shower and off to finish those files,/_ she thought that she earned having the rest of the weekend to lazy. Riza organized the table, stacked her papers neatly inside a folder, and headed off to the bathroom for a quick shower. Everything had to be neat by the time she got back.

Riza valued her space. She was more than glad to find a place for herself. She tried her best to keep that place organized and spotless. She made sure no clutter was around and no extra trinkets to fill up the place. She had a single couch, a small coffee table in front of it, a book shelf that stood within reach if she felt like reading while laying down on the couch, and her TV opposite where she would sit. This felt like home.

Under the shower head, as the warm water cascaded over her head and onto her body, Riza cleared her thoughts and just closed her eyes to let out the stress she felt. The water stained red from her dyed hair, it pooled and drained away.

_/I should have been something else other than a teacher, but I'm making good money. I have a good reputation, but I'm single. Why am I single? Mom would just jab at me for not finding a man. At this stage in my life, I don't need one./_

She opened her eyes and shook her head from all the voices. Suddenly the light flickered in the bathroom. Riza froze and peeked behind the curtains to check on the light above. Another flicker and another intense one, the lights were out and she was submerged in darkness.

"Damn it, must be a blackout. I must unplug the electronics," All this electrical cut will ruin devices linked to the outlets. Finishing off quickly, she put on her bathrobe and stepped out of the bathroom to unplug all the outlets. She checked on her laptop when she noticed that it rebooted on its own. Riza dreaded a possible malfunction and went to look out the window . It seemed her street was the only one affected by it, "I guess no work tonight," she said to herself. The laptop screen illuminating the dark room, working on laptop charge. She let out a relieved breath.

Riza felt her way through the darkness to her bedroom to get dressed, walked back to hang her bathrobe back behind the bathroom door, then gathered her laptop to put it back in its place on her desk. She decided to keep it on as she didn't want to be in the darkness alone. Vergil will protect her, she thought.

The next morning, Riza opened her eyes, recalling what had happened yesterday. Lazily, she threw her legs off the bed and reached for her phone to check the time. 7:05 am, too damn early for the weekend. She gathered what little energy she had to check on her electric devices and plug them back. To her surprise, the laptop didn't shut down. She was merely surprised that it lasted all night. After making sure all is well, she made a quick visit to the toilet, then off to her bed again. The redhead, with sleepy half-lidded eyes, made her way to her bed. She fluffed the pillows and gently lay down.

"You intend to sleep again?"

Riza shot up with a gasp. Was someone in the room? There was no way her mind was playing on her. That voice was familiar and it sent her heart beating wildly. Shaking by now, she got up and looked around her room, under the bed, in the closet then out the window in worry that someone was watching her. The nearest window was quite far, and the curtains covered the inside of her house, "What the hell was that?" Riza muttered.

"Wrong window," it spoke again. This time, Riza looked at where it came from and gasped in fear looking at her laptop screen. The image on her laptop moved, blinked, and glared back at her as if it was a video call.

"Y-y-y-. . . y-you're . . . moving . . . ali-alive," she pointed.

"It is rude to point. Calm yourself, woman," Vergil spoke through the screen. His arm no longer resting on the table, and his hands formed fists as he leaned down on his knees with his elbows.

A million thoughts and questions ran through the poor lady's head. She dreaded getting close, or talking back. He watched her every move, looking her up and down in disdain and slight disgust, "How…How are you talking?" she breathed out the question, holding her fist over her heart. A dream perhaps? Or did she pass out and is now seeing things?

"Something triggered this possibility," Vergil looked around the screen box he was in as a form of an image. He reached for Yamato unsheathing it, then resheathing it back, "I must leave this place. You will help me." Vergil looked back at a frozen in place redhead, "Stop gawking and find a way. My state may be temporary." Vergil said back, his eyebrows furrowing.

Not knowing what to do, Riza trotted to the screen instantly and closed the top lid over. The laptop will just shut down on its own.

"Vile human. Open this window," Vergil snarled. Riza yelped and started pacing the room far from the laptop, leaving the room then reentering it anxiously. She listened to his grunts and growls until she finally had the courage to open the laptop. She carefully sat on the edge of the bed, having a few questions to ask Vergil.

**[I had to change a great deal in this story. I greatly apologize. I want to thank AngelWolf for her detailed review. You helped me a lot, I thank you. I hope this is better than before. Now Vergil may have a purpose for his state of living.]**


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